The Master of San Torpé

Henry Harris Collection, London;
His deceased sale, London, Sotheby's, 25 October 1950, lot 172;
Anonymous sale ("The Property of a Lady"), London, Sotheby's, 10 July 1974, lot 7, for £3,000, where acquired by the present owner.

B. Berenson, Pitture Italiane del Rinascimiento, 1936, p. 445 (as by a close follower of Simona Martín or Lippo Memmi);
L. Bellosi, Buffalmacco e il Trionfo della Morte, Turin 1974, reproduced fig. 190 (as by the Master of San Torpè).

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The panel is poplar and there is evidence of past worm infestation. Some worm holes have come through to the paint layer and have been restored out. The paint layer has some instability, has been abraded and has consequently been augmented and strengthened. The red bole and ground colour are evident through the gold ground, the paint to the figures has been compromised allowing the ground colour to dominate and the Virgin's robe is abraded and thin. Mary Magdalene's and St. John's robes are in reasonably original condition with only minor paint loss. Despite the distressed condition of the panel it maintains the ability to be profoundly moving. Offered in an engaged frame."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

First published by Prof. Luciano Bellosi immediately after the 1974 sale at Sotheby's, the attribution of this small devotional panel to the Master of San Torpé has recently been reaffirmed by Prof. Bellosi and independently endorsed by Mr. Everett Fahy following first hand inspection, to whom we are grateful. 

The artist himself was probably a pupil of Cimabue and active mostly in Pisa during the first and second decades of the 14th century, although he probably originated from Siena. Evelyn Sandberg-Vavalà first coined the name of this anonymous Master, his eponymous work being a large altarpiece in the church of San Torpé in Pisa.¹

1. see E. Sandberg-Vavalà, "Some Partial Reconstructions-II", in The Burlington Magazine, vol. LXXXI, no. 416, November 1937, p. 234.